COMMENT: "Chelsea don't buy 31 year-old players." So says Gennaro Gattuso, the AC Milan coach. But they will, Rino - if the price is right.

It was glaring. Obvious. Chelsea's main problem. Maurizio Sarri's great dilemma. It was there for all to see on Saturday as Leicester City - via Jamie Vardy (oh, the irony) - walked away with the three points.

With Olivier Giroud on the bench. And Alvaro Morata nowhere to be seen. Sarri again went with Eden Hazard as his 'false nine'. Which is just fancy lingo for hoping Hazard can make up for what others are failing to do - score goals. And he was close. Twice being denied by Kasper Schmeichel either side of the break - and smacking the Leicester goalkeeper's crossbar in the first-half.

But Sarri knows this can't be a long-term solution. It's not even working now. Both as a goalscorer and a creator, Hazard is far more effective in a deeper role. But Chelsea also need a centre-forward capable of more than being a mobile wall for Hazard to bounce his passes off.

Sarri knows. It's not just the confidence of his strikers that are taking a hit with every passing game. That lack of self-belief has a way of filtering throughout an XI - especially in midfield.

With every fluffed chance. With every glaring miss. Whether it's Giroud or Morata. Every time an opportunity fails to be converted it's a subtle dent at the belief of those behind them. When they see Giroud free, do they play him in? Or keep the ball and maintain possession? If Morata is alone at the back post, do they swing one in? Or, again, play the percentages hoping Hazard can get himself free?

This is knocking at Chelsea's momentum. At the progress of Sarri's team building. And the way he wants his players to perform.

So step forward Gonzalo Higuain. Dejected. Rock bottom. Experiencing the worst goalscoring drought of his career. And, as his manager at AC Milan just highlighted, now the wrong side of 30.

But he's the centre-forward Sarri wants. The one the Blues manager is convinced can bring it altogether. Just as Jorginho has done for his midfield. Sarri is rock solid sure the Argentine can do the same for his attack. And on the player's side of the table, the feeling is mutual.

Indeed, inside Milan, they believe Higuain already has his heart set on a January move to London. And for their part, the Rossonero would be open to negotiation.

With Financial Fair Play casting a heavy shadow over their transfer dealings, Milan must make every signing count. Having committed €18m for the 12-month loan of Higuain, with an obligation to pay Juventus a further €36m to make it permanent, Milan would welcome the chance to rip it up and look elsewhere. And if Chelsea are willing to include Morata as compensation all the better. That Morata and wife Alice own a house in the Castella region makes things all the more easier.

But what of Higuain and his spiraling form? Like with Jorginho, Sarri believes his intuition deserves respect - and support in the transfer market. It was this issue that was at the heart of his problems with Aurelio de Laurentiis, Napoli's movie mogul owner. He doesn't demand total control of transfer policy, but when he makes a request Sarri expects to be backed.

At Milan, the Italian has reasoned with friends back home, Higuain doesn't have a midfield behind him as he would at Chelsea. And he certainly doesn't have a player of Hazard's quality to work with.

More importantly, however, Sarri would not demand from Higuain what Milan have sought from the Argentine this season: leadership. Sarri understands Higuain's mentality. He isn't a locker room leader. He isn't a force of personality. Think N'Golo Kante. Sure of his ability. His qualities. But not one for rousing speeches.

This is what Milan, with a team still in it's early phase of rebuilding, had hoped for from Higuain. But Sarri knows, that's just not him. And the message has already been relayed: We'll be signing you for goals, not speeches.

No-one at Milan have complained about Higuain's professionalism. He's always on time. He has always made weight. But he isn't a player to carry a team on his shoulders - particularly one with the multitude of problems that Milan currently have.

At Chelsea, Higuain will find himself with better players and leading the line in a system that brought him career best statistics for the time he and Sarri were together in Naples.

Both men believe Higuain still has the goals. The world class ability. He just needs a better environment to bring it out of him.

And as Saturday proved against Leicester, there's no team better set up - and in greater need - for the finishing of Higuain than Sarri's Chelsea.